“The way of the eland” was the name long given by the Khoisan to the track across the mountain range that the Dutch settlers in the Cape called the Hottentots-Holland. A wagon road soon overlaid it and the land on the other side became known as “over ‘t gebergte” (over the mountains), now simply Overberg.
The settlers first came here to barter with the indigenous pastoralists for meat and butter — hence the name given the Bot(ter) (butter) River. Gradually they took the land; the Khoisan and eland stood little chance.
Little viticulture was practised then in the wide Overberg, but now it flourishes from Elgin to the Breede River. Ten years ago, though, the Bot River wine ward (running inland from Walker Bay) did not exist. Beaumont, which has the oldest cellar in the Overberg, Goedvertrouw and then a tiny new venture called Luddite were the only wineries. Now there are more than a dozen. I recently visited two of them travelling through Sir Lowry’s Pass — “the way of the motorcar”.
Luddite is still small but Niels (winemaker) and Penny (viticulturist) Verburg at last have their own modest cellar and enough vines to not need to buy in fruit for their Shiraz. This is always a vibrant, attractive wine — made in the non-technological spirit expressed in the Luddite name and stylistically somewhere between elegant classicism and expressive, sweet-fruited modernism.
It is definitely not a simple, easy drinker ready for approaching too lightly or early, however. Shiraz lovers are lucky that Verburg holds on to the wine as long as he does. The latest release is from the best-yet 2007 vintage; it is harmonising beautifully now and worth chasing (though pricey at R250-plus).
On an altogether different scale is nearby Gabriëlskloof. The first vines were planted in 2002 — the first in the modern era, that is, for the estate is named after Gabriël le Roux, who made wine and brandy here in the 19th century for domestic use and passing trade.
Businessperson Bernhard Heyns has invested deeply here — and wisely, I would say. The buildings, including a restaurant for today’s passers-by, are attractive and elegantly understated, rather like an unpretentious Waterford — and not a shred of pseudo-Tuscan.
More importantly, the wines, made by young Kobie Viljoen from a wide range of grape varieties planted on the farm’s diverse slopes, are most promising. The first releases were in 2008 and they are good. The estate’s grand wine, called the Five Arches because it has all five red Bordeaux varieties, is ripe, rich and showy, though by no means overdone (except in oakiness, perhaps) and has understandably done well in competition.
I preferred the 2009 “second label”, rather desperately called The Blend, which is more modest in its demeanour, fruit-centred and drinkable though also well structured and, being less oaky, better balanced. At about R90 it is certainly good value. The Shiraz is also appealing.
Of the white wines — in fact, of all the wines now available — I most admired and enjoyed the classic blend of sauvignon and semillon called Magdalena, in honour of Heyns’s (sadly non-drinking!) sister. It is a refined and delicious example of this great Cape wine category: subtly assertive, making a whole greater than the sum of its varietal parts and a bargain at about R100.
Gabriëlskloof is an ambitious winery and one to watch closely in the years to come.